Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill star in this eco- thriller based on an acclaimed 1999 novel by Julia Leigh, the writer and director of the Sleeping Beauty we showed in March. The Hunter tells of a mercenary (Dafoe) who is summoned to Tasmania by a multinational military-biotech company when an animal long thought extinct, the Tasmanian Tiger, is sighted there. Masquerading as a scientist, this ruthless loner tracks the animal in order to kill it...

Paul Newman and Henry Fonda star in Newman’s second directorial outing, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. The two screen legends play stubbornly independent Oregon loggers who refuse to stop work during a crippling general timber strike, thus angering the locals. The movie’s one undeniably great sequence features Richard Jaeckel, who was nominated for an Oscar. With Lee Remick. “Four stars…A dazzling oddity: simultaneously melodramatic and stoic, goofy and majestic, rousing and devastating.” –Time...

Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill star in this eco- thriller based on an acclaimed 1999 novel by Julia Leigh, the writer and director of the Sleeping Beauty we showed in March. The Hunter tells of a mercenary (Dafoe) who is summoned to Tasmania by a multinational military-biotech company when an animal long thought extinct, the Tasmanian Tiger, is sighted there. Masquerading as a scientist, this ruthless loner tracks the animal in order to kill it...

The latest cry of rage from comedian-turned- filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait (Shakes the Clown, World’s Greatest Dad) tells of a divorced, middle-aged, terminally-ill everyman (Joel Mur- ray, brother of Bill) who teams up with a high school girl to rid American society of some of its most offensive elements: people who text during movies, reality show stars, NASCAR fans, et al. Goldthwait describes his movie as “a very violent film about kindness.”

Paul Newman and Henry Fonda star in Newman’s second directorial outing, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. The two screen legends play stubbornly independent Oregon loggers who refuse to stop work during a crippling general timber strike, thus angering the locals. The movie’s one undeniably great sequence features Richard Jaeckel, who was nominated for an Oscar. With Lee Remick. “Four stars…A dazzling oddity: simultaneously melodramatic and stoic, goofy and majestic, rousing and devastating.” –Time...

The new documentary by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) focuses on San Diego’s annual Comic-Con, the largest comic book convention in the world, which has become a mecca for thousands of geeks and fanboys, many of them in costume. With Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, Stan Lee, Harry Knowles, Eli Roth, et al.

This new documentary profiles Japan’s 85-year-old Jiro Ono, perhaps the world’s best sushi chef. Jiro is seen at Sukiyabashi Jiro, his ten-seat sushi-only restaurant located in a Tokyo subway station, where he continuously strives for perfection in taste and presentation.

The new documentary by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) focuses on San Diego’s annual Comic-Con, the largest comic book convention in the world, which has become a mecca for thousands of geeks and fanboys, many of them in costume. With Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, Stan Lee, Harry Knowles, Eli Roth, et al.

The latest cry of rage from comedian-turned- filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait (Shakes the Clown, World’s Greatest Dad) tells of a divorced, middle-aged, terminally-ill everyman (Joel Mur- ray, brother of Bill) who teams up with a high school girl to rid American society of some of its most offensive elements: people who text during movies, reality show stars, NASCAR fans, et al. Goldthwait describes his movie as “a very violent film about kindness.”

This stylish silent horror-comedy, made in Hollywood by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, created the template for subsequent “old dark house” movies—and for Universal’s horror pictures of the 1930s. Based on a 1920s Broadway hit, it’s a moody movie in which a group of relatives gather in a decaying mansion for the reading of a rich man’s will. The designated heir stands to inherit a lot of money as long as she is not insane—and...

Here’s a new 35mm color print of Terence Davies’ exquisite memory piece in which he returns to the world of his childhood—1950s working-class Liverpool. Bud, an impressionable 11-year-old living with his mother and older siblings, finds his dreams nourished at the neighborhood movie house. The film’s nostalgia, rendered in one stunning image after another, is buttressed by an eclectic, evocative soundtrack of hymns, popular songs, classical music, radio broadcasts, and movie soundtracks. “The work of...

Rachel Weisz (superb) and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) play illicit lovers in post-WWII Britain in the latest nostalgia trip by master British filmmaker Terence Davies (see previous blurb). Set in postwar London, the film focuses on the young wife of a High Court judge who has an affair with a reckless ex-RAF pilot and discovers sexual passion for the first time. Once again Davies’ feel for 1940s/1950s British life is extraordinary, and the film is...

The life, music, and legacy of Jamaica’s reggae superstar Bob Marley (1945-1981) is the subject of this epic, warts-and-all documentary, one of the year’s most acclaimed movies. Includes vintage film clips, rare musical performances, and interviews with those who knew him, including Jimmy Cliff and Marley’s son Ziggy.

Rachel Weisz (superb) and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) play illicit lovers in post-WWII Britain in the latest nostalgia trip by master British filmmaker Terence Davies (see previous blurb). Set in postwar London, the film focuses on the young wife of a High Court judge who has an affair with a reckless ex-RAF pilot and discovers sexual passion for the first time. Once again Davies’ feel for 1940s/1950s British life is extraordinary, and the film is...

Here’s a new 35mm color print of Terence Davies’ exquisite memory piece in which he returns to the world of his childhood—1950s working-class Liverpool. Bud, an impressionable 11-year-old living with his mother and older siblings, finds his dreams nourished at the neighborhood movie house. The film’s nostalgia, rendered in one stunning image after another, is buttressed by an eclectic, evocative soundtrack of hymns, popular songs, classical music, radio broadcasts, and movie soundtracks. “The work of...

The director and star of the haunting 2008 black comedy Tony Manero return with a chilling new tale of Pinochet’s Chile. Set during the violent overthrow of President Salvador Allende in 1973, the movie focuses on a gaunt Santiago mortuary worker who becomes infatuated with an erotic dancer next door. When the right-wing authorities target the dancer’s left-leaning household, she hides out with our ashen protagonist, who also must deal with a ballooning number of...

Don Knotts as a Hugh Hefner-style publisher and playboy? In the late 1960s, anything was possible! This forgotten comedy—written and directed by the influential creator of TV’s Sergeant Bilkoand Car 54, Where Are You?—stars Knotts as the owner and editor of a financially troubled bird-watchers’ magazine that becomes a hugely successful girlie magazine after a hostile takeover. The dweeby Knotts suddenly finds himself defending First Amendment rights and living a lifestyle that attracts a different...

Don Knotts as a Hugh Hefner-style publisher and playboy? In the late 1960s, anything was possible! This forgotten comedy—written and directed by the influential creator of TV’s Sergeant Bilkoand Car 54, Where Are You?—stars Knotts as the owner and editor of a financially troubled bird-watchers’ magazine that becomes a hugely successful girlie magazine after a hostile takeover. The dweeby Knotts suddenly finds himself defending First Amendment rights and living a lifestyle that attracts a different...

One of the five features nominated for this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, this French-Canadian movie tells of a gentle Algerian immigrant (Mohamed Fellag) who takes over a Montreal middle school class when the original teacher dies suddenly. This understated, touching tale of grief and healing won six Genie Awards (Canada’s Oscars) including Best Picture, Actor, and Director.

The latest film from the Japanese director of Still Walking and Nobody Knows is another sensitive tale of children. 12-year-old Koichi lives in the south of Japan with his divorced mother and grandparents. His younger brother Ryunosuke lives in the north with his father. Koichi desperately wishes that his family can be reunited, and when a new bullet train links the two towns, he sees the possibility for a miracle. Has an overall metacritic.com score...

One of the five features nominated for this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, this French-Canadian movie tells of a gentle Algerian immigrant (Mohamed Fellag) who takes over a Montreal middle school class when the original teacher dies suddenly. This understated, touching tale of grief and healing won six Genie Awards (Canada’s Oscars) including Best Picture, Actor, and Director.

The latest film from the Japanese director of Still Walking and Nobody Knows is another sensitive tale of children. 12-year-old Koichi lives in the south of Japan with his divorced mother and grandparents. His younger brother Ryunosuke lives in the north with his father. Koichi desperately wishes that his family can be reunited, and when a new bullet train links the two towns, he sees the possibility for a miracle. Has an overall metacritic.com score...

The director and star of the haunting 2008 black comedy Tony Manero return with a chilling new tale of Pinochet’s Chile. Set during the violent overthrow of President Salvador Allende in 1973, the movie focuses on a gaunt Santiago mortuary worker who becomes infatuated with an erotic dancer next door. When the right-wing authorities target the dancer’s left-leaning household, she hides out with our ashen protagonist, who also must deal with a ballooning number of...

Robert De Niro’s Godfather-style CIA epic is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated movies of the 2000s. Spanning three decades, this expansive drama follows a bright young Yale man (Matt Damon) who does espionage work during WWII, then joins the Central Intelligence Agency during the heyday of Cold War relations and covert operations. But the job’s climate of secrecy undermines his ability to trust and takes a toll on his personal relationships and family...

The global water crisis—shortages, contamination, and commercialization—is the focus of this alarming new documentary by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu. It’s a must-see for those who live near the Great Lakes. With Erin Brockovich. “There is nothing dry about Last Call at the Oasis.” –Toronto Globe and Mail.

Italian writer-director-actor Gianni Di Gregorio, who cared and cooked for his 93-year-old mother and her elderly friends in his delightful 2010 entrée Mid-August Lunch, returns with a wry new comedy. Here the sad-sack auteur, age 60 and lonely (despite a wife and mother), decides to spice up his retirement with an extramarital affair—if he can first get a woman to notice him. “Rueful, funny and wise…A warm yet melancholy film of quiet yet inescapable charm.”...

A first love that lingers for a decade—from blissful adolescence to messier young adulthood, exerting an emotional pull that trumps that of subsequent relationships—is expertly delineated in this poignant, sensuous film from the director of 2009’s Father of My Children. This major movie was selected for the Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals. “Five stars (highest rating)…An incisive, exhilaratingly frank examination of l’amour lost…Heartbreakingly precise…This is how you portray adolescence on screen.” –Time...

Italian writer-director-actor Gianni Di Gregorio, who cared and cooked for his 93-year-old mother and her elderly friends in his delightful 2010 entrée Mid-August Lunch, returns with a wry new comedy. Here the sad-sack auteur, age 60 and lonely (despite a wife and mother), decides to spice up his retirement with an extramarital affair—if he can first get a woman to notice him. “Rueful, funny and wise…A warm yet melancholy film of quiet yet inescapable charm.”...

A first love that lingers for a decade—from blissful adolescence to messier young adulthood, exerting an emotional pull that trumps that of subsequent relationships—is expertly delineated in this poignant, sensuous film from the director of 2009’s Father of My Children. This major movie was selected for the Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals. “Five stars (highest rating)…An incisive, exhilaratingly frank examination of l’amour lost…Heartbreakingly precise…This is how you portray adolescence on screen.” –Time...

The global water crisis—shortages, contamination, and commercialization—is the focus of this alarming new documentary by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu. It’s a must-see for those who live near the Great Lakes. With Erin Brockovich. “There is nothing dry about Last Call at the Oasis.” –Toronto Globe and Mail.